Another day in paradise, A.D. takes pause for a quick shot with one of the beautiful show girls at the Aladdin Casino on the Las Vegas strip.

The 2007 Air Affair East as reported by Donn Shanteau.

The inaugural Air Affair East custom painting workshop is the natural extension of the wildly popular Air Affairs that have taken place in Salt Lake City, Utah, over the past years. The Air Affairs consist of the top airbrush painters in the country sharing their extensive experience, painting tips and secret techniques with students who desire to practice airbrushing in the highly competitive custom painting world.

The venue is the most-excellent Penn State Technical College in Williamsport, PA. The College features state of the art paint mixing and spraying facilities along with an accomplished staff of auto painting and customizing experts (most notably co-host Al Thomas), making it the perfect choice to host this top-notch teaching event.

pictured above: Paul Quinn

On hand to share their considerable knowledge with attendees are; Steve Driscoll, Jason Doll, Bob Soroka, Bones, Pamela Shanteau, Ron Gibbs and Paul Quinn. All of these accomplished airbrush gods and goddesses were gathered by the ASET Group which distributes Iwata and Artool products. With all of this talent in one place, one might conclude that egos would abound. Not the case here. All of the instructors are very down to earth and dedicated to delivering the professional instruction that the students expect.

pictured above: Jason Doll

Hosting the ASET event is the talented and energetic Sheri Candland, and what an event it has started out to be. Thursday night kicked off with a reception where the students got a taste of some fine food and refreshments along with a sampling of what the weekend had in store for the dozens of eager students. As the food and drink flowed, so did the paint. All of the artists started painting panels that demonstrated their personal painting styles.

above: Ronn Gibbs demenostrates his skills.

Throughout the weekend the panels will continue to evolve into works of art that ASET will use to promote future events. After the official mixer ended, the party didn’t stop. Artists and students alike did the “Pub Crawl” in the College town, ending in the wee hours of Friday morning.

The first 8:00am class on Friday morning rolled around too early (it seemed), but everyone made the bell and were welcomed by a cadre of eager learners.

Instructor extraordinaire Steve Driscoll was first-up. His airbrushing introduction covered the essential elements of airbrush painting that every student had to understand to get the most of their experience. Everything from basic airbrushing techniques to painting jargon was explained by Steve in his usual jovial style, setting the tone for the event. Once Steve finished his demonstration, the students got their hands onto the airbrushes and into the painting process, emulating the lessons learned from Steve’s demo.

The infamous “Bones” from Fort Lauderdale was next up with some “skull-duggery” demonstrating the use of Artool stencils to create the gruesome images that we all have come to know and love. Bone’s straight ahead teaching style is very easy to follow while being totally comprehensive. The focus of the project is melding stencils with freehand painting. It looks like everyone is getting the idea and the class is moving forward as I write.
Look for more from the Air Affair East soon.

Story and photos © Donn “Too Tall” Shanteau 2007
Air Illusions Inc., Swanton, Ohio (419) 644-5147

Stay tuned to AirbrushTour as we bring you more from ASET’s Air Affair East, or visit ASET online to learn more about upcoming events.

• • • • •

For more instructional information about automotive airbrushing, look for Pamela Shanteau’s upcoming book Custom Automotive & Motorcycle Airbrushing 101.

This hot 1955 Chevrolet is all business. Painted by Steve Vandemon, this 150 Businessman’s Sedan came stock with no back seat (NBKSEAT). Salesmen would use such cars to peddle their goods, and the lack of a back seat meant room for product. The 150 was featured in movies such as American Graffiti and Two Lane Black Top and still rules the street as an all-American classic.

This beauty, owned by Chuck and Judy Forbes, is a total frame-off restoration, all-steel, street rod custom.

Visit Vandemon - Absolute Custom Paint online to learn more about his art.

April Showers prove true in the ‘Sunshine State’, and when it rains there, it pours. As it did during A.D.’s recent visit to Key West, Florida for the weekend of April 13-15 to show art at A Boy and His Dog art gallery. The rain was powerful, lasting only a couple hours and dropping inches of fresh water, while tossing in an impressive lightning show mixed with loud thunder. But for the most part of his stay the weather was warm, albeit humid, provided for great walking weather, so A.D. snapped off a few touresty shots of this Island Paradise for you all. There is plenty to see and experience in Key West and, because the island is small, nothing is very far away from where you are staying, so most there walk or rent bicycles, electric carts or scooters. There is also no shortage of tourest trolleys and pedi-cabs that run up and down Duval Street - Key West’s main drag.

Discover a city where real estate titles date back to the Kings of Spain. Stroll the palm-lined streets and discover gingerbread mansions, tin-roofed conch houses, the John Audubon House and Ernest Hemingway’s home. Walk in the footsteps of Thomas Edison, Lou Gehrig, Harry Truman, and Tennessee Williams.

Gaze at the fabled treasure of the galleon Atocha. Discover tomorrow’s fine art treasures by Key West’s well-known and unknown artists.

Key West is known for several great historic landmarks, including the ‘Casa Caya Hueso’, the Southernmost house in the Continental United States.

Cool oddities include wild, yet friendly, roosters that roam the streets.

There are plenty of great places for tourists to visit…

…and interesting buildings line the streets - many constructed from dismantled ships wrecked long ago.

Not all in Key West is old. There are plenty of impressive boats waiting to make way through the islands in the Keys. Key West is a mere 90 miles from Cuba.

Huge cruise ships can be seen delivering visiting tourists on a daily basis…

…and many visit the art galleries on the famed Duval Street, for which Key West is famous. A Boy and His Dog Art Gallery, 619 Duval St., Key West, FL 33040.

Click here to visit Key West online.

Click here to visit the City of Key West, Florida, official web site.

Click here to check out cool virtual tours of Key West.

Kustom Lifestyle, Love it, Live it, Wear it.

If you have a need for speed, check out the Iwata-Medea and Artool Speedshop. You’ll find authentic, branded gear that the airbrush pros wear. Their growing line of products include bowling shirts, long-sleeve T-shirts and genuine Iwata and Artool staff shirts. Their new Hawaiian shirts are available NOW!

Check out killer swag designed by famous artists like Craig Fraser, Steve Vandemon, Dennis Mathewson and many more.

Wild and vibrant, expressive and fun. That’s what comes to mind when you get in front of Kat’s work. Inspired by the music of Rock ‘n Roll legends like Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Lennon, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Hendrix, Kat attacks a canvas with the passion of a musician. Her work visually and faithfully captures the feel of the music and you can’t help but feel uplifted and ready to party when you look at it.

Kat is single-handedly breathing new life into Pop Art. Learn more about her and her fabulous art in her new video online.

During Dennis Matthewson’s visit to Las Vegas recently, we not only got a chance to catch up with Dennis (of Cosmic Airbrush fame), but A.D. also got an opportunity to try out some of ALSA’s 15 colors from the Hawaiian Hues collection. The result? Big fan.

Hawaiian Hues are medium solid base coats. Though designed as a basecoat they work equally well for graphic work and even airbrushing. These vibrant basecoats provide excellent coverage and fast dry times. Designed by a custom painter with the custom painter in mind. And color - Hawaiian Hues are abundant in pigment making for some intense color.

Click here to download the ALSA Unique Paints & Additives 2006 Catalog (28 pages - 8.3 MB) or visit The ALSA Corporation online to learn more about their great products.

We’re experimenting with some other Alsa products here as well. Stay tuned for more as we play and spray, and share our results with you.

This week hot shot features a hot babe art panel painted by Nick Lee (© 2006 Nick Lee) taken by A.D. at last year’s Bakersfield Thunder Run in Bakersfield, CA. This was one of many great panels on display there. Track back to our previous post for more, or visit Nick Lee Designs of Las Vegas online to learn more about his art.

Superior art, first-class events and show-exclusive offerings characterize Artexpo New York 2007.

We’re excited to announce that A.D. Cook was just featured in the April 2007 issue of Art Business News for the ArtExpo 2007 Post-Show Report. Below is an excerpt from page 28 (© 2007 Summit Business Media, LLC. Used by permission).

TRENDSETTING …Although some new initiatives received mixed reviews, others came forward as trendsetters for 2007. Metal Art was a recurring theme in several exhibitor’s booths, as many artists experimented with works on new substrates for the show. New exhibiting artist A.D. Cook showcased a wide range of his metal fusion art, which is intricately hand painted, airbrushed and even etched with a razor and other sculpting tools to create visually striking images.

Visit Art Business News online to learn more.

View The Art currently showcases the largest selection of A.D.’s recent work online.

Photos for this post courtesy of Dennis Mathewson - Cosmic Airbrush

Now, we know some of you have been waiting a while for this third post on the ASET Air Affair that took place last November. Well, we will keep you in suspense no longer.

By way of a recap, you may want to visit the previous two posts on the event: Part One and Part Two.

Craig Fraser - “Live to Paint” or perhaps “Live to teach”. When it comes to airbrush, Craig is everywhere.

Mike Lavallee working his magic.

Ron Gibbs in demo mode.

Here’s what was covered on Day Three of the ASET Air Affair:

Saturday, November 11
8:00am Ron Gibbs: Traditional Tribal Flames and Fade out striping
10:00am Jason Doll and Dean Loucks: Barbwired and all Gothic
12:00pm Lunch sponsored by ASET - Clear Coat Class instructed and sponsored by Dupont
1:30pm Ryno Templeton and Bob Soroka: Wood Grain
3:30pm Craig Fraser: “Paint to Live and Live to Paint”
5:00pm End of day and close of 3rd annual Ultimate Air Affair. See you Next Year!!

This event was enlightening and fun for everyone involved. Want to take part in the 2007 Air Afffair? Better put it on your calendar right now and make your reservations. It promises to fill up fast! Contact ASET right away.

… or maybe a million.

Paul Rousso has a different way of looking at art. Instead of representing a three dimensional object on a two dimensional surface (ie canvas), he felt the need to represent a two dimensional object in a three dimensional way. What makes this more intriguing, is that he uses the object itself in the art.

Confused? Let’s just say one day you got the uncontrollable urge to see the contents of the Yellow Pages all at once. Hey, it could happen! Paul has made this possible by taking every single page of the Yellow Pages and creating a beautiful piece of art on a wood panel starting with page one and progressing all the way to the last page at the bottom of the piece. If you get up and personal with the art, you may just be able to find your own name in there. He’s done this with the 1956 World Almanac, every note the Beatles ever wrote, the Dictionary, The Bible, the Torah, The Sunday Times and many other tomes.

There’s a fine line separating insanity from genius. I’d say Paul Rousso is skating on the genius side. Do yourself a delight and check out his story and his art right here…

The lovely model Jessica poses in front of one of A.D.’s paintings in process, which also features her as cigar smoke, at a recent gallery show in Las Vegas.